SAR Digital Signal Processing

SAR Systems and Digital Signal Processing
CanadaCanada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada Canada
Natural Resources Ressources naturelles
What is Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)?

A side-looking radar system which makes a highresolution image of the Earths surface (for remote sensing applications) The basic image is complex-valued and 2-dimensional:
range = distance from sensor (perpendicular to flight path) azimuth = distance along flight path
Digital signal processing is used to focus the image and obtain a higher resolution than achieved by conventional radar systems
Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada
Concept of Synthetic Aperture

Synthetic Aperture
Last time SAR senses object Distance SAR travelled while object was in view = synthetic aperture Flight path
First time SAR senses object
Ground Track
Nadir
Swath Object
SAR Real Aperture

The Real Aperture of a SAR is the slant range plane interval of the transmitted pulse for which all signals return to the receiving antenna at the same instant of time. All signals at the same range return to the radar at the same time and are separable only in Doppler shift. For a transmitted chirp of length , the instantaneous radar return at range R contains surface returns corresponding to slant range interval, c /2, each uniquely coded in chirp frequency. On a smooth Earth, the constant Doppler frequency contours form a family of hyperbolae and the constant range contours form a family of circles. The real aperture determines the range of influence of a radar saturation event.
Point Target Echo in a Synthetic Aperture Radar System

SPACECRAFT MOTION
DATA RATE = PRF X NUMBER OF RANGE CELLS
DATA RECORDING
ANTENNA
TRANSMITTED WAVEFORM
POINT TARGET PHASE HISTORY
CHIRP LENGTH SYNTHETIC APERTURE LENGTH AZIMUTH

RANGE RANGE POINT TARGET
AZIMUTH
Airborne SAR Flight Geometry

ath p t h Flig
R1 = Minimum slant range R2 = Maximum slant range
H = 2 - 10 km
R1
Offset = 5 - 100 km
R2
Imaged swath width 5 - 30 Km
Range Azimuth Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada
SAR Squint Angle

SAR
AZIMUTH ANGLE
SQUINT ANGLE SQUINT DIRECTION ZERO DOPPLER RADAR SWATH
Principles of SAR
Radar coherence SAR System components SAR signal generation Coherent demodulation How demodulation creates phase Pulse after range compression Target in computer memory Sensor motion equations Azimuth signal analysis Doppler frequency Doppler bandwidth Azimuth resolution Synthetic aperture concept SAR signal processing
Radar Coherence
Consider 2 ways the radar can measure echo time delay:
by observing the time delay of the echo magnitude (e.g. 56 nsec accuracy = 8 m) by observing the phase of the echo (e.g. 6 psec relative accuracy = 1 mm)
A coherent radar has the ability to measure phase, achieved through precise control over:
start time and phase angle of the transmitted pulse frequency of the coherent oscillator (demodulator) platform motion including motion compensation
Components of a SAR System

Coherent Oscillator Pulse Generator High Power Amplifier Circulator A/D Converter Coherent Demodulator Low Noise Amplifier Antenna To Signal Processor Tx/Rx
The coherent oscillator (coho) is a very stable clock which provides timing for the signal generation, transmission time, sampling window, demodulation and A/D converter
Antennas
An antenna couples electromagnetic waves (signals) propagating in free space to and from a transmission line.
frequency dependent directional polarization dependent
For SAR applications the axis that defines the waves electric field orientation with respect to the antenna defines the wave polarization. The general case is elliptical polarized waves. An antenna focuses the radiated waves into a beam in three dimensions.
for efficiency the radiating aperture > 1 wavelength large radiating areas (apertures) can make tight beams the gain of an antenna is determined by electrical losses beam area (solid angle)
SAR Signal Generation

Chirp:
Bandwidth = 20 MHz
Transmitted Pulse Modulator
X
Tx pulse looks like a sine wave, but is a chirp with low fractional bandwidth
To HPA
Carrier from coho:
Freq = 5.3 GHz
Coherent Demodulation
Received Signal
Demodulated Signal Demodulator
X
Demodulated signal is just like the original chirp generated
To ADC
Carrier from coho: Freq = 5.3 GHz

How Demodulation Turns Time Delay Into Azimuth Phase

Received Signal Received Signal
Stored Rx Signal Stored Rx Signal
StoredDemodulated Demodulated signal Stored Signal
< Azimuth Time Azimuth Time
30May99 12:0
Range Time > Range Time
Range Time > Range Time
demod_phase.eps
SAR Processing 1
Once the radar illumination beam has passed over a point on the ground, all of the information from that point has been acquired and stored as a two dimensional (range and azimuth) phase history.
In the absence of radar saturation, all of the phase histories of all of the points in the image are linearly combined in a time series to form the SAR signal data. SAR processing decodes the phase signature of each point in range and azimuth and focuses this information into an impulse response. The range and azimuth widths of the impulse response are the range and azimuth resolutions. Nyquists theorem requires that the processed data be sampled at least twice per impulse response width. These samples are the radar image pixels.
SAR Processing 2
Because the natural coordinates of the range and azimuth data are not separable, the range and azimuth processing steps are coupled.
Range walk and range curvature Resolution vs. beam width Beam squint (antenna pointing angle SQ, relative to zeroDoppler) Earth rotation
Processing is done in the natural coordinate system of the radar, the slant range plane.
Earth surface presentations of radar images require projection along constant range arcs to the Earth surface elevation at each point. RADARSAT data are often projected to an ellipsoid model of sea level.
Calibration separates the radar and the gross imaging geometry from the radar data by inverting the radar equation.
Point Target Compression or Focussing

RANGE COMPRESSION RANGE CURVATURE
CHIRP LENGTH
RANGE WALK
RANGE RESOLUTION
CHIRP LENGTH RANGE = COMPRESSION RATIO RANGE RESOLUTION SINGLE LOOK APERTURE LENGTH
AZIMUTH RESOLUTION AZIMUTH COMPRESSION
LOOK 1
LOOK 2
LOOK 3
LOOK 4 AZIMUTH = COMPRESSION RATIO SINGLE LOOK APERTURE LENGTH AZIMUTH RESOLUTION
Range Compression of Received Signal

Signal before range compression Signal before range compression
Signal afterrange rangecomp Signal after compression
Range timetime Range >

19May99 12:39
Range time Range time >

comp_pulse.m
Point Target in Computer Memory
R R Real part part of demod. signal vs. signal range time Real of demodulated vs range time (azimuth increases (azimuth time increases time with each line) with each line)
Real part part of demodulated signal Real of demodulated signal at range R vs azimuth at range R vs. azimuth time time
Signal Analysis in the Azimuth Direction

Signal amplitude > Signal amplitude
Case A Radar is stationary with target Case A Radar is stationary with respect respect to to target
1 0.5 0 0.5 1 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Case B Target moving away from theradar radar at a constant Case B Target moving away from the at a constant rate rate
Signal amplitude > Signal amplitude
1 0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 2 4
Over this time, 2R 2R hashas decreased by by Over this time, decreased

6 8 Azimuth sample number > 10 12
Azimuth sample number
When theazimuth azimuth signal signal is aa sine wave is observed in Case B as the is moving. When the isanalyzed, analyzed, sine wave is observed in Case B astarget the target is moving. The sine wave frequency = the TARGET DOPPLER FREQUENCY The sine wave frequency = the TARGET DOPPLER FREQUENCY
Phase Change Induced by Sensor Motion

Platform motion Radar
Vt
Zero-Doppler Point
R0
Target Range
Range vs Azimuth Time:
R 2 ( t ) = R0 + V 2t 2 m
2
V2 2 R ( t ) R0 + t m 2 R0
Phase vs Time:
(t ) =
2R (t )
V2 2 t cycles R0 2 R0
Doppler Frequency from Phase Change

Doppler frequency vs. azimuth time:
This is a linear FM signal:

Doppler Doppler Frequency
d 2V 2 Fd = = t Hz R dt = K a t Hz
Total DopplerTotal Bandwidth Doppler Bandwidth of target DBW of target (DBW)
Slope Ka Ka Hz/s Slope= = Hz/s
AzimuthTime Time Azimuth
Total exposure time target Total exposure time ofof target

Total Doppler Bandwidth Generated

Satellite motion Azimuth beamwidth Length of beam footprint L = synthetic aperture
Antenna length D
R
Range
Length of beam footprint:
L = R =
R
D
meters
L R s = Exposure Time: Te = V D 2V Total Doppler Band Width: DBW = K aTe = D - independent of range and wavelength !
- the smaller is D, the larger is the DBW !
Hz
Azimuth Resolution
2V = Doppler Bandwidth Hz D D therefore resolution in time = s 2V and resolution in space units = resolution in time * V D = m 2 Thus the SAR has the remarkable property that its resolution is independent of distance and radar wavelength !
However, the SNR goes down with increasing range and increasing frequency, so higher power may be needed at long ranges.
SAR Signal Processing

Overview of processing algorithms available Structure of the received SAR signal The Range/Doppler algorithm Range pulse compression Range resolution obtained Doppler centroid estimation Range cell migration correction (RCMC) Azimuth compression Multi-looking to reduce speckle The SPECAN algorithm
SAR Processing Algorithms

Range/Doppler
a widely-used general-purpose algorithm good compromise between accuracy and speed
SPECAN
for quick-look or ScanSAR processing
Chirp Scaling
for the highest phase accuracy and moderate squint
Wave Equation
for systems which operate with wide apertures and/or large squint angles
Polar Format
for spotlight radar processing
Structure of Transmitted SAR Signal

The transmitted SAR signal is usually a linear FM pulse:
St ( , ) = P ( ) cos 2 f 0 + K r ( l / 2 ) , = [0, l ]
2
(1)
where
= azimuth time
range time envelope of range pulse (chirp) radar carrier frequency range FM rate duration of range chirp
P() f0 Kr
s s Hz Hz/s s
These pulses are repeated at the rate of Fa Hz, which we refer to as the Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF). Note that is continuous time, while is a discrete time variable.
Structure of Received SAR Signal

The ideal received signal from a single point target can be expressed as: 2 Sr ( , ) = P { d }cos 2 f 0 ( d ) + K r ( l / 2 d ) ,
= [ d , l d ]
The ideal received signal is the same signal as was transmitted, but with a time delay d proportional to the range R: d = 2 R ( ) / c where R() is the range to the point target for the pulse transmitted at time and c is the speed of light.
(2)
( 3)
The Range Equation

The most important geometry relationship is given by the range equation: 2 2 2 2
R ( ) = R0 + Vr ( 0 )
which comes from the right-angled triangle with sides R0 and Vr ( - 0 ) and hypotenuse R(), where the straight-line platform motion approximation is made. As Vr ( - 0 ) << R0 we can use a Taylor series to approximate R() by the parabola:
R ( ) = R0 + Vr ( 0 ) / ( 2 R0 )
2 2
Platform motion Radar position
Vr ( 0 )
Zero-Doppler Point
R ()
R0
Target Range
Structure of Demodulated SAR Signal

After coherent demodulation, the signal from the point target can be expressed as:
Sd ( , ) = A ( c ) P ( d )
exp j 2 f 0 d + j K r ( l / 2 d ) ,
2
= [ d , l + d ]
(4)
where we have included A, the azimuth beam profile (gain) which is a function of the time from the beam centre crossing time c.
SAR Data Acquisition

h h tt u u m ziim Az
e ge ng an R
SAR Signal Memory SAR Signal Memory
h t pat F Flliigh
R ( R( A) )
A
SAR
R )) R(( B B
r Nad Nadi k Trac d n Grou
ir
su gs ng on llo a a m m a Bea
rface
Target
Received Data in SAR Signal Memory

Locus of point target target energy signal memory Locus of point energyin in signal memory
45
end end
40
When the echo from each pulse is received, it is written into one line in SAR signal memory (along constant azimuth time). As the platform (or target) moves, the echo from a given target shifts in range, and is written into the next range line in the memory (going up the slide). After the beam has finished illuminating the target, the locus of energy has the shape shown in red.
35
0 0
Azimuth (cells) > Azimuth (cells )
30
25
c C
20
15
10
start oftarget target exposure start of exposure
The purpose of SAR signal processing is to compress this energy into a single point.
10 15 20 25 30
Slant Range (cells) > Slant Range (cells)
Simulation Parameters
Size of azimuth array Size of range array No. of samples in chirp No. non-zero range lines Duration of chirp Range FM rate Range sampling rate Range bandwidth Radar wavelength Speed of wave prop. Range of target PRF Total Doppler bandwidth Platform Velocity Azimuth FM rate "PRF" duration Beam offset Doppler centroid Doppler centroid Doppler centroid Antenna length Actual RCM
Na Nr
Kr Fr
256 128 104 239 5.20 3.27 20.0 17.0 1.036 300.0 850 1700 1410 7050
complex samples complex samples complex samples complex samples sec MHz / sec MHz MHz cm Km/msec Km Hz Hz m/s Hz/s msec s Hz PRFs Hz m cells
c R0 Fa Vr Ka
Fcen Ffrac D
-11289 150.59 -6.34 71613 42.125 213 10.0 6.92
Energy of Range Signal

Envelope SARSignal Signal Envelope of of Received Received SAR =s 6.34 s = 6.92 rcmcells = 6.92 cells c etac = -6.34 RCM
Magnitude Magnitude >
0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0
250 200 150 100 50 0

16May99 13:51
im th Az mu zi < A ut h
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40
60
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> e e g g n n a a R R
geninp2.eps
The Range/Doppler Algorithm

SAR Signal Data Unpack Encoded Data Balance I&Q Channels Range Compression
Azimuth FFT
Doppler Centroid Estimation
Range Cell Migration Correction MLD IMAGE
Matched Filter Multiply
Look Extraction, Azimuth IFFT
Detection, Look Summation
SLC Image
Range Processing
Generate range matched filter Get replica of ideal range pulse Reverse sequence in time FFT the sequence with zero padding Conjugate the answer Apply smoothing window
FFT each range line Multiply by range matched filter Inverse FFT Select good output points
Range Matched Filter

Spectrum of signal range line 128 (fftshifted) Spectrum of signal in in range line 128 (FFT shifted)
14 0 12
Spectrum signal inin range line 128 Spectrum of of signal range line 128
Phase (radians) (radians) > Phase

60 40 20 0 20 40 60
50
10 8 6 4 2 0
100 150 200 250 300 350 60 40 20 0 20 40 60
Range frequency (bin(bin no.) > Range frequency no.)
Range frequency (bin no.) > Range frequency (bin no.)
Spectrum of range MF, with with & without window window Spectrum of range MF, & without
14 350 12
Spectrum ofmatched matched filterfilter Spectrum of
Phase Phase(radians) (radians) >

60 40 20 0 20 40 60
rangemf1.eps
300 250 200 150 100 50 0
Magn Magnitude itude >
10 8 6 4 2 0
13May99 12:42
60
13May99 12:42
40
20
20
40
60
rangemf2.eps
Range Pulse Compression

Signal beforerange range compression Signal before compression Signal after rangecomp Signal after range compression
Range time > Range time

19May99 12:39
Range time > Range time

comp_pulse.m
Range Compression Results 1

Range compressed signal Range compressed signal
250
Signal rangecompression compression eta c c == -6.34 6.34 s s RCM 6.92 cells Signalafter after range RCM= = 6.92 cells
200
80
Azimuth no. Azimuthcell cell no. >
150
Magnitude > Magnitude
60 40 20 0
250 200
100
hth ut u mzim zi A A <
150 100 50 0 50 55 60 65 70 75
50
19May99 13:4
> e ge ng n a a R R
rangcom2.eps
0 0
19May99 13:4
20
40
Range cell no. > Range cell no.
60
80
100
120
rangcom1.eps
Contour plot of ofrange range compressed signal Contour plot ofmagnitude magnitude of compressed signal
250
Azimuth cell number Azimuth cell number >

The data is now range compressed, but a significant range migration remains.
200
150
100
50
50
19May99 16:18
55
Range cell number > Range cell number
60
65
70
75
contour4.eps
Range Resolution
The slant range -3 dB resolution in seconds is equal to: Q sr = r s
BWr
where BWr is the bandwidth of the range pulse A weighting function is used in the matched filter to control the range sidelobes, and leads to the weighting factor Qr (typically 1.2) sr is multiplied by half the speed of light to get the slant range resolution in metres sr is also divided by sin( ) to get the ground range resolution in metres: Q sin ( ) gr = r m
( c BWr )

Compressed pulsein in range line 128 Compressed pulse range line 128
0 Resolution = =1.189 cells Resolution 1.189 cells 5 Maxlobe = = 18.0 dB -18.0 Max lobe 1D ISLR dB 1-D ISLR = 14.9 = -14.9 Pk 60.88 samples samples Pk == 60.88 index index Pk units Pk == 80 80 units value value 0.0 deg Pk Pk = = 0.0 deg phase phase
dB dB
Magnitude (dB) (dB) > Magnitude
10
15
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25
30
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54
56
58
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66
68
pulse3.ep
15May99 12:57
Time (samples expanded by 16) > Time (samples expanded by 16)

Compressed pulse range line128 128 Compressed pulse inin range line
200 150
Phase (deg) > PhaseAngle Angle (deg)
100
50
50
100
150
200
15May99 12:57
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56
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pulse4.eps
Time (samples expanded by 16)
Time (samples expanded by 16) >
Azimuth FFT 1
Signal after azimuth FFT Signalmagnitude magnitude after azimuth FFT
1200
Magnitude Magnitude > Magnitude
1000 800 600 400 200 0
250
15May99 13:27
) ) lls lls ee (cc cyy ( en c quen fre qu uthre im f Az th u zim < A
200
150
100 50 0 45 50 55 60 65 70
>
azfreqdm.eps
75
s) l) llls e ce (c ( n n io o i it t s i o ps eo ngp ae g R Ra n
Contour plotplot of signal energy after FFT Contour of signal energy afterthe theazimuth azimuth FFT
250
Azimuth FFT 2
The azimuth FFT causes a circular rotation of the data around the azimuth axis, because of the conversion from time to frequency.
200
Azimuth frequency (cells) > Azimuth frequency (cells)
150
100
50
0 50
19May99 16:18
55
60
65
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contour2.eps
Range position (cells) > Range position (cells)
Doppler Centroid Estimation

The centre of the azimuth or Doppler energy is a function of the antenna squint angle and the Earth rotation and must be estimated now, as it is needed for RCMC and azimuth compression There are many ways of estimating the Doppler Centroid, e.g.: Curve-fitting the azimuth magnitude spectrum Estimating the average phase increment Beating two range looks together The Doppler centroid is ambiguous, as the energy is aliased to the interval ( 0 : Fa ). Both the aliased centroid and the ambiguity number must be estimated.
Aliasing of the Doppler Spectrum

If the Doppler energy could be observed as an analog signal, the red spectrum would be seen. But, as the Doppler spectrum is sampled at a rate of Fa Hz, the spectrum is aliased down to the interval ( 0 : Fa ) as shown in blue. This blue spectrum is all we can observe with the sampled data. M is referred to as the ambiguity number. We must estimate M as it is needed for range cell migration correction. F = F + M *F
true meas a
>
Measured spectrum Measured spectrum
True spectrum spectrum
Dopple r energy Doppler energy
0 0
15May99 14:59
>
Fa F
a
M Fa MF
a
(M+1) Fa (M+1) F
a
amb_illus.eps
Azimuth frequency (Hz) > Azimuth frequency (Hz)
The Doppler Ambiguity Number

In general, the Doppler energy is not between integer Fa boundaries. The total or absolute Doppler centroid is Fcen The observed Doppler centroid is Ffrac In addition to Ffrac, we need to estimate the Doppler ambiguity number M, so that we can obtain: Fcen = F frac + M * Fa
>
Observed spectrum Observed spectrum True Truespectrum spectrum
Doppler energy Dopple r energy
>
Ffrac F frac
Fcen F cen
>
0 0
15May99 16:6
>
Fa Fa M M Fa Fa Fa ((M+1) M+1) F
a
amb_illus2.eps
Azimuth frequency (Hz) > Azimuth frequency (Hz)
Average Phase Method

Estimation of the Doppler Centroid by the average azimuth phase vectors method Azimuth phase increments in DC range frequency cell
1.5 Estimated FFfrac = 211 211 Hz Estimated Hz frac 1
Imag part Imaginary part >
0.5
0.5
1.5 1.5
19May99 14:19
0.5 0 0.5 Real part > Real part Real part
1.5
accc.eps
Finding the Doppler Ambiguity

DLR algorithm: angle shifted) DLR algorithm: ACCC ACCC anglevs. vs.range range frequency frequency (FFT (fftshifted)
cetac
0.95 = 6.344 s = -6.344 s
Squint -3.0 deg squintangle = 3.0= deg Ffrac = 212 Hz

= true 213 Hz 212 Hz
est Ffrac
ACCC ACCC angle angle (radians) (radians)>
0.9
Ffrac
= Ffrac true est
= 213 Hz
0.85
0.8
0.75 Fit 13.71 mrads Fit Error Error = = 13.71 mrads
0.7
Cubic Err Err = = 0.065 mrads Cubic 0.065 mrads

Slope
0.65
Slope Fcen
= = = 20
= 9.192 mrad/MHz 9.192 mrad/MHz = 42.13 PRFs

42.18 PRFs 0 20 40 60
dopcen1.eps
Fcen F cen true 0.6 60

19May99 14:39
true
=42.13 42.18 PRFs PRFs
Fcenest
est
40
Range > Rangefrequency frequency (bins) (bins)
Range Cell Migration Correction

The total range migration comes from the range equation. When expressed in range cells, we can determine when RCM correction is needed:
2 Vr Fr RCM = l c range cells c R0

Total Range vs. Squint Total Range Migration Migration vsBeam Beam Squint
12
Total RCM cells) > Total RCM (range (range cells)
10
Target exposure = =0.141 ss Target exposure 0.141

8 6 4 2 0 0
Simulation value Simulation value
19May99 14:45
Beam centre offset magnitude )(s) Beam centre offset magnitude |etac| > Beam centre offset magnitude |c|O (sc)| (s
10
RCMtot.eps
RCM Calculation
1. Compute absolute frequency of each frequency sample 2. Compute RCM needed in range cells:
R( f ) =
Unaliased frequency (KHz) Unaliasedor absolute orabsolute frequency (KHz) >
2 R0
8 Vr
2
f2
Frequency vector forfor RCMC calculations Frequency vector RCMC calculations

RCM needed RCM needed (range (rangecells) cells) >
72.4 72.2 72 71.8 71.6 71.4 71.2 71 70.8 0 50 100 150 Azimuth frequency index Azimuth frequency index > Azimuth frequency index 200 250
7 6 5
DOPCEN = = 71.61 71.61 KHz KHz DOPCEN M = 42 M = 42
4 3 2 1 0
favector.eps
19May99 14:52
RCMC Interpolator Design 1

To perform RCMC, we need an interpolator. We design one based on a weighted sinc function.
Coefficients of filter for interpolating 1/16 of a cell Before weighting After weighting
Coefficient value
Shift amount (1/16 cell)
RCMC Interpolator Design 2

The red curve of the previous slide is sub sampled, with an 1/16 cell shift to get the individual coefficient sets:
16 sets of 8-point interpolators interpolators designed Kaiser window, = 3 =3 16 sets of 8point designedwith with Kaiser window, beta
1
Coefficient value >
0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0
Only sets 1:8 are shown Only sets 1:8 are shown (sets 9:15 are symmetrical) (sets 9:15 are symmetrical) (set 16 is the noshift set)
Coefficient value
(set 16 is the no-shift set)
0.2 1
17May99 16:29
4 5 Coefficient number Coefficient
8
fildes2.eps
RCMC Results 1
(a) (a)Amount Amountof ofRCMC RCMCneeded needed (c) of target targetafter afterinteger integer RCMC (c) Energy Energy of RCMC
Magnitude Magnitude(cells) >
Range (cells) > Range (cells)
10 8 6 4 2 0 0
Total RCMC Total RCMC

Integer RCMC Integer RCMC Fract RCMC Fract RCMC
6 4 2 0
50
Azimuth frequency (bin (binno.) no.) > Azimuth frequency
100
150
200
250
45
50
Range (cells) Range (cells) >
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(b)(b) Energy ofof target before RCMC Energy target before RCMC
Magnitude (cells) Magnitude >
(d) (d) Energy of target after total RCMC Energy of target after total RCMC
6 4 2 0
Magnitude (cells) Magnitude >
6 4 2 0
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60
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rcmc1.eps
17May99 17:4
RCMC Results 2
Signal magnitude after RCMC 12th line is shown) Signal magnitude after RCMC(every (every 12th line is shown)
1200
1000 800 600 400 200 0 250
y cy nc ue en eq qu fr re uth f imuth Azim Az

17May99 16:54
200 150 100 50 0 45 50 55 60 65 70
)) ls llls e e c ((c
) lls) se ell cn (c nit( o i io it s s o o p p eange Rang R

rcmc2.eps
RCMC Results 3
MeanSquare Square energy ofof RCMCed signal vs. range Mean energy RCMCed signal vs range
1000
MS Energy Energy > MS
800 600 400 200 0 0
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40
Range cell cell no. Range no. >
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Blowup graph above Blowup of of graph above

1000
MS Energy> MS Energy
800 600 400 200 0 45 50
19May99 15:1
Range cell cell no. Range no. >
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rcmc3.eps
Contour plot of of signal after RCMC Contour plot signal energy energy after RCMC
250
RCMC Results 4
200
The data is now wellaligned in the azimuth direction -the data lies mainly in one range cell.
Azimuth frequency (cells) > Azimuth frequency (cells)
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0 45
19May99 16:15
50
Range (cells) > Rangeposition position (cells)
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contour3.eps
Azimuth Compression
After RCMC, the azimuth energy is aligned vertically in the computer memory Azimuth compression consists of:
generation of matched filter look extraction, with weighting inverse discrete Fourier transform (DFT)
The azimuth matched filter parameters are computed from the azimuth FM rate, the exposure time and the Doppler centroid The azimuth matched filter is also a linear FM signal, and is applied with a fast convolution, much like the range compression operation.
Azimuth Matched Filter

To derive the matched filter:
generate replica of ideal received signal reverse it in time zero pad, and take its DFT
To apply the matched filter:

select portion of azimuth spectrum to utilize multiply by window and matched filter inverse DFT select good output points
Azimuth Signal Properties

14
Slice ofsignal signal data data down cell 57 (max energy) Slice of downrange range cell 57 (max energy)
Signal magnitude > Signal magnitude
12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 50 100 150 200 250
Azimuth frequency frequency cell Azimuth cell>
Angle (radians) > Angle (radians)
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0
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50
Azimuth frequency cell Azimuth frequency cell >
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150
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azimmf1.eps
Form of the Compressed Pulse After Azimuth Compression

Compresseddata data after after azimuth processing Compressed azimuth processing
Magnitude > Magnitude
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5000
0 50
40
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Az <
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m iA
t im zu
u h th
20 45 50
> e ge ng a R n a R
azcomp2.eps
integrations over range andazimuth azimuth 1-D 1D integrations over range and
250
Red curve:data summed in range Blue curve:data summed in azimuth
no. Azimuth sample no. le > th samp Azimu
Azimuth Compression Results 2
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150 100 50 0 0
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Range cell cell no. > Range no.
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azcomp1.eps
Azimuth Compression Results 3

2D expansion expansion of 2D of compressed compressedpulse pulse
120
Pk Peak mag
mag
= 14748 14748 =
Azimuth (samples (samples expanded Azimuth expandedby by4) 4) >
Pk = 57.25 Pkr-index = 57.25 rindx

100
Pk = 36.00 Pka-index = 36.00 aindx Pk = 1.8 -1.8 Pkphase = phase
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Multi-Looking Concept
Single look image uses all signal returns from a ground target to create a single image. The image will contain speckle but have the highest achievable resolution Multi looking is used to reduce speckle in the final detected image, assuming that phase is not needed. Independent images of the same area can be formed in the digital processing of SAR data by using sub-sets of the signal returns. Achieved by compressing subsets of the azimuth signal energy (spectrum) independently, and adding their detected images together after registration. In satellite SARs, 3 or 4 looks are typically taken, with the azimuth resolution and number of looks selected to make the azimuth pixel size approximately equal to the ground range pixel size. Resulting image has lower resolution but reduced speckle
The SPECAN Algorithm

Optimal for low resolution, multi-look or ScanSAR processing Following conventional range compression, azimuth compression is achieved by a matched filter multiply followed by an azimuth FFT There is no azimuth IFFT, so the algorithm is very efficient This saving is possible because of the linear FM structure of the received signal
http://www.ee.ubc.ca/sar/sqlp/sqlp.html Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada
Summary
Illustrated SAR compression with the R/D algorithm Obtained well-focussed results Carefully-designed matched filters with weighting RCMC done correctly Doppler parameters estimated accurately Other algorithms available for specialized purposes SPECAN Chirp scaling Wave Equation Polar Format
Advanced Topics Notes - Radarsystems
Page 1 of 15
Advanced Topics - SAR Systems and Digital Signal Processing

Notes Slide 2 A SAR system, as used in remote sensing, has two features which distinguish it from other radar systems: It makes a 2-dimensional image by having the radar platform move in a straight line during the data collection. The second dimension is given by measuring the time delay of the received radar pulse. It obtains high resolution in the motion direction by focussing or compressing the Doppler energy arising from the platform motion. As the radar is a coherent system (preserving phase), it is convenient to perform the signal processing using complex numbers. Also, the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) is kept low to obtain large swath widths, so complex numbers are needed to properly sample the received signal. In the early days of SAR, users were only interested in the magnitude of the processed image, but now they are also very interested in the phase. So the final processed image is usually stored in the form of complex numbers. One of the features that distinguishes a modern radar system from its predecessors is digital signal processing (DSP). With digital processing, focussing can be precise, and image quality maintained at a high level. Slide 3 What does aperture mean? (Courtesy of the Alaska SAR Facility) Many people associate the word aperture with photography, where the term represents the diameter of the lens' opening. The camera's aperture then determines the area through which light is collected. Similarly, a radar antenna's length partially specifies the area through which it collects radar signals. The antenna's length is therefore also called its aperture. Remember, light and radar just represent different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, so many terms and equations used in everyday optics also apply in radar theory. So what does synthetic aperture mean? In general the larger the antenna, the more unique information you can obtain about a particular viewed object. With more information, you can create a better image of that object (improved resolution). It's prohibitively expensive to place very large radar antennas in space, however, so researchers found another way to obtain fine resolution: they use the spacecraft's motion and advanced signal processing techniques to simulate a larger antenna. A SAR antenna transmits radar pulses very rapidly. In fact, the SAR is generally able to transmit several hundred pulses while its parent spacecraft passes over a particular object. Many backscattered radar responses are therefore obtained for that object. After intensive signal processing, all of those responses can be manipulated such that the resulting image looks like the data were obtained from a big, stationary antenna. The synthetic aperture in this case, therefore, is the distance travelled by the spacecraft while the radar antenna collected information about the object. The ERS-1 satellite's SAR sends out around 1700 pulses a second, collects about a thousand backscattered responses from a single object while passing overhead, and the resulting processed image has a resolution near 30 meters. The spacecraft travels around 4 kilometers while an object is "within sight" of the radar, implying that ERS-1's 10 meter x 1 meter radar antenna synthesizes a 4 kilometer-long stationary antenna!

Slide 6
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This slide showing a SAR system operated from an aircraft illustrates the 2-dimensional nature of the SAR imaging mechanism. One dimension is the aircraft flight direction, which is called azimuth. The other dimension is given by the radar beam, which is approximately perpendicular to the flight direction. This second dimension is called range, as it is proportional to the range R from the sensor to the reflectors on the ground. Slide 8 In this group of slides, we will discuss the technical features of SAR systems which allow them to obtain their high resolution in azimuth. Key to this is the concept of coherence, and how the radar signals are timed and processed to maintain and take advantage of the coherence property. Slide 9 If we can only observe the magnitude of a signal, the best that we can measure is the time of the signals reception. The accuracy of this measurement is given by the inverse of the bandwidth of the received signal, e.g. if the bandwidth is 18 MHz, then the time of arrival of a pulse can be measured to an accuracy of 56 nanoseconds. This corresponds to a distance of 8 m. However, if we can observe the phase to an accuracy of 12o, then (at C-band) the time can be measured to an accuracy of 6 picoseconds, or 1 mm. A coherent radar, with precise control over the frequency of the coherent oscillator, and precise control over the timing of the transmitted pulses, can achieve this higher accuracy. In the case of an airborne SAR, the platform may not fly in a straight line, because of atmospheric turbulence. When this happens, the received signal must be motion compensated so that the phase of the received signal is the same as it would be if the aircraft did fly in a straight line. Slide 10 These are the main components of the analogue or radio frequency (RF) parts of a SAR system. The coherent oscillator generates a very stable frequency, and counters are used to generate the discrete times of pulse generation and analogue-to-digital (A/D) conversion. The pulse generator generates a chirp signal at low frequency with the desired bandwidth, say 20 MHz. Then the chirp is multiplied by the coherent oscillator to raise its centre frequency to the desired radar frequency, e.g. 5.3 GHz. This weak RF signal is then amplified to a power of several kW, and fed to the antenna via the circulator. The circulator is a switch which cycles the path to the antenna between the transmit side (Tx) and the receiver side (Rx) of the radar system. The transmit cycle lasts approximately 30 sec, while the receive cycle lasts approximately 600 sec. The circulator also plays the important function of protecting the sensitive receiver from the high power of the transmitter. The antenna receives the weak echo from the Earths surface, and the Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) amplifies it by about 120 dB so that the subsequent analogue and digital electronics can deal with it. Because the LNA has to deal with such a weak received signal, it must have a very low thermal noise figure, to keep the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at a reasonable level. The demodulator down-converts the signal to baseband (or to an intermediate frequency) so that the sampler can operate at the Nyquist rate for the signals bandwidth.
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Slide 12 The first step in the SAR signal generation process is to generate a chirp signal with the desired bandwidth, such as 20 MHz. The time of the beginning of the chirp is precisely controlled by a counter running off the coherent oscillator (coho). The beginning of the pulses are separated by the pulse repetition interval, or 1/PRF. Each pulse has exactly the same waveform including the same initial phase. The pulse is then multiplied by the radar carrier frequency so that the resulting signal has the desired centre frequency, e.g. 5.3 GHz. The carrier is the same as the coho, or is derived from it. The signal out of the multiplier is filtered so only the signal around the carrier frequency is kept. The signal remaining is then the pulse which is sent to the high power amplifier and transmitted. The coho signal is a sine wave, and the transmitted pulse also looks like a sine wave, as its fractional bandwidth is very small, e.g. 0.3 %. Slide 13 The coherent demodulator is essentially the reverse of the up-converter in the signal generator. If the received signal is the same as the transmitted signal (except for a gain change and a time delay), the demodulated signal is the baseband chirp originally generated. However, the demodulated signal has two important properties: it has a time delay given by the return flight time of the signal, and it has a phase change proportional to the time delay. Slide 14 This slide shows how the demodulation process imparts a phase change on the received pulse, proportional to the time delay of the pulse. The received signal is shown along the top of the slide. In this case, we assume that it is the ideal signal from a point reflector, and the radar and reflector are moving away from each other slowly. This is more clearly seen by the signals in the lower left panel, where the received signal is chopped up and stored in memory. The memory is 2-dimensional, with each new row of memory beginning at a precise time after the initiation of each transmitted pulse (referred to as range time). The time delay can be seen with respect to the vertical dashed line, which represents a fixed range time. Note that except for the time delay, the received signal has exactly the same shape (phase) in each row. The vertical dimension represents azimuth in this 2-D memory. However, when the signal is demodulated, the phase of the pulse is changed by the time delay, because the phase of the demodulated signal equals the phase of the received signal minus the phase of the coho. But as the received signal is delayed with respect to the coho, a phase change proportional to delay is imparted on the signal. The phase change can be observed in the lower right panel, where the circles represent samples taken at a common range time. Slide 18 After demodulation, the signal is sampled and compressed in the range direction. The compression is achieved by a matched filter, which is the complex conjugate of the ideal received signal. Weighting

is used to control the sidelobes of the compressed pulse.
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The -3 dB width of the compressed pulse (in time units) is approximately equal to the inverse of the bandwidth of the pulse. The phase of the compressed pulse is equal to the phase of the demodulated signal (at a certain reference point from its beginning). Slide 19 This slide shows how a range-compressed target appears in signal memory (left panel), where 25 range lines are shown. In the memory, range runs horizontally, while azimuth runs vertically. The range of the point target is increasing linearly with each pulse (with each range line), but each succeeding time delay increment is so small that the time delay is not obvious in the figure (the total time delay over the 25 pulses is only 93 nsec, representing a /2 change in range, or only 0.0019 of a sample). If we then examine the stored signal at a fixed range R (at the peak of the compressed point target), and draw these 25 samples vs. azimuth time, we observe the sine wave shown in the right panel. This signal is the azimuth signal of the SAR system. Slide 20 Let us observe the azimuth signal for two cases. In case A, the target is stationary with respect to the radar. Then there is no differential time delay between the pulses, and the phase of each succeeding pulse is constant. In other words, the azimuth signal shown in the top panel has zero frequency. Then consider case B, where the target is moving away from the radar at a constant rate, as in the previous slide. Every time the range to the target increases by /2 (the transmit plus receive range increases by ), the azimuth phase changes by 360o, as seen in the lower panel. The azimuth signal in case B is a sine wave. The frequency of this sine wave is
and is referred to as the Doppler frequency of the target. Slide 21 This slide shows how the range to a target changes with time as the radar passes by, and the form of the resulting phase change. Assuming constant-speed, straight-line motion, the zero-Doppler position of the radar, the current position of the radar and the target form a right-angled triangle. The zero-Doppler position is the point where the radar is closest to the target, a distance Ro away. Then the range R varies with time as a hyperbola, but the hyperbola can be well approximated by a parabola, as the radar beamwidth is relatively narrow. The change in range induces a phase change, discussed on the previous slide, which also has a parabolic form with time. Note that a signal with a parabolic phase or a linear frequency is a chirp. The form is much like the range chirp, but at a quite different time scale (the azimuth bandwidth is only a few hundred to a thousand Hz).
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Note that we have used the units of cycles for phase, so when we differentiate phase relative to time on the next slide, we will get frequency in Hz. Slide 22 The Doppler frequency is the rate of change of phase, which makes it a linear function of time for the rectilinear SAR motion shown in the previous slide. The graph shows a typical plot of Doppler frequency vs. time in the linear FM SAR signal of a point target. The most interesting property of this frequency is the slope of the graph, or the frequency modulation or FM rate, Ka. From the range equation developed on the last slide, we see that the azimuth FM rate is
Other interesting parameters of the signal are its bandwidth, centre frequency and duration or exposure time. Slide 23 This slide shows the total Doppler bandwidth generated by the SAR system. The SAR system design gives the fixed SAR parameters of antenna length D, radar wavelength and sensor velocity V. The length of the beam footprint and the associated azimuth exposure time are proportional to the range R. The azimuth FM rate Ka is inversely proportional to range, with the interesting result that the total azimuth bandwidth generated 2V/D is independent of range and wavelength. In order to make the bandwidth larger (and the resolution finer), the antenna length must be made shorter ! Slide 24 As in other instruments, the resolution, when expressed in time units, is approximately equal to the inverse of the bandwidth, or D/(2V) seconds in this case. Then to get the resolution in space units, we multiply by the (azimuth) velocity of the sensor, or V. Thus the azimuth resolution is D/2 m. Slide 25 Digital signal processing of received SAR data is the key to the higher performance of modern radar systems. Originally, SAR processing was performed with coherent laser optics, but in the 1980s, digital processing took over. Digital processing offered the advantage of higher dynamic range, better noise control and more precise focussing. Digital SAR processors were relatively slow at first, but now they can be built to operate in real time. In this set of slides, we will review the mainstream algorithms in use today, and go through the steps of the most common algorithm, the Range/Doppler algorithm. Slide 26 These are the main SAR processing algorithms in use for satellite SAR processing today. The Range/Doppler algorithm was developed in 1978, is the most general one, and is the one most widely used. It will handle most SAR cases efficiently, except those with very wide apertures, high squint and ScanSAR.
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SPECAN is an algorithm developed in 1979 to use the minimum memory and computing operations for spaceborne use. It turns out to be very efficient for low resolution, multi-look processing, as well as ScanSAR processing. It is particularly efficient for ScanSAR because the time-frequency structure of the SAR processing algorithm can be exactly matched to the time-frequency structure of the ScanSAR data collection. It does not handle range cell migration correction (RCMC) easily. The chirp scaling algorithm was developed in 1992. Its main advantage is that it obtains higher phase accuracy because it dispenses with the RCMC interpolator. Instead, it performs RCMC by scaling (expanding and shifting in range) the chirp in the range-time, azimuth-frequency domain. The wave equation algorithm was originally developed for seismic processing, and was adapted to SAR processing in 1986. It is also called the Range Migration Algorithm (RMA), or the Wave Number algorithm. It operates in the 2dimensional frequency (wave number) domain, and handles wide-aperture and high-squint SAR data accurately, as long as the radar velocity does not vary with range too much. It does not need an explicit Secondary Range Compression term, as this SRC term is implicit in the formulation, but it cannot adjust the SRC term with range. The polar format algorithm was developed for squinted and spotlight aircraft SARs, and has limited use for satellite SARs. It can focus accurately at any squint angle, but has a limited depth of focus. Slide 27 The signal is a linear FM pulse imposed upon a carrier frequency of f0 Hz. For ERS, Envisat and RADARSAT, the carrier frequency is C-band at 5.3 GHz. The linear FM pulse or chirp has the properties of: duration l usually 30 - 40 s centre frequency, usually zero so that f0 is the centre frequency bandwidth BW, usually 10 - 30 MHz FM rate = BW / l, often about 0.5 MHz/s The pulse is selected to be linear FM so that all frequencies within the selected bandwidth are used equally, a criteria for good pulse compression. Slide 28 Here we assume that the ground is completely non-reflective except for a single, ideal point target or reflector. This is the easiest way to see how a SAR system works, and to derive the required signal processing operations to focus the image. In this way, we can observe the impulse response of the SAR, as the whole system is a linear system. Slide 29 The range equation expressed the range from the antenna phase centre to the target scattering centre, as a function of pulse number or azimuth time. It is one of the most important equations in the SAR system, because the azimuth phase encoding, and the subsequent azimuth signal processing depend upon this change in range. It is the change in range which makes a SAR work, in the sense that it allows us to process the received data to get fine resolution in azimuth. In both satellite and airborne SAR, it is common to use the straight line motion assumption illustrated in the sketch. The assumption is very accurate for airborne SARs; for satellite SARs it is also a good assumption with the proviso that Vr is allowed to change with range.
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Slide 30 The received signal is demodulated because, in subsequent signal processing operations, we want to deal only with the information part of the signal, not the carrier. However, the effect of the carrier frequency is very important, as the phase change 2f0d is a direct function of the radar carrier frequency or wavelength, = c / f0. The demodulator multiplies the received signal by a coherent local oscillator. When the received signal is delayed, the phase of the local oscillator advances. In this way, the demodulation process changes the time delay dinto the azimuth phase 2f0d . Slide 31 This slides illustrates the flight geometry of a typical airborne SAR. The radar beam (not explicitly shown), begins illuminating the target while at point A, and finishes the illumination at point B. During this interval, energy is received from the target. This energy is demodulated, sampled, and stored in SAR signal memory inside the signal processor. It could also be stored on tape or downlinked directly to the ground. For each transmitted pulse, one line is stored in signal memory. As the range to the target R() changes, the energy shifts in signal memory, as illustrated on the next slide. Slide 32 There are two significant azimuth times associated with this target, in addition to the exposure start and stop times. The first is the time when the centre of the beam crosses the target, and is denoted by c. The second is the time that the target is closest to the radar, and is denoted by o. The latter time may not appear in the figure, if the beam squint is large enough that the target is not illuminated when it is closest to the radar system. Slide 33 In order to illustrate the operation of the Range/Doppler algorithm, we have done a complete simulation using a single received point target. We used parameters from the ERS satellite SAR, with the exception that we have shortened the range chirp length and the azimuth exposure time in order to fit the simulation into a 128 x 256 point array. To achieve this shortening, we have increased the range and azimuth FM rates, to keep the bandwidths the same. Reducing the radar wavelength was one parameter changed to achieve this. The simulation is still accurate, because the time-bandwidth products (TBP) are still over 100, a requirement for representative results. Slide 34 This diagram shows the locus of energy in signal memory that would be received from a single point target on the ground. This signal is important as it is used to define the SAR processing algorithms (the matched filters) and to define the impulse response of the end-to-end system, including the signal processor.
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Note that the range migration is clearly seen. It appears step-like in this portrayal, because we have only plotted every 4th range cell (to keep the file size down). Slide 35 Typical steps in the commonly-used Range/Doppler algorithm include: Unpack data from downlink format into complex (I,Q) words Balance the I & Q channels for gain and phase Range compression (fast convolution with weighting) Azimuth FFT (fast Fourier transform) Doppler centroid estimation Range cell migration correction (interpolation in range direction) Azimuth matched filter multiply (with weighting) Look extraction (select desired portion of Doppler spectrum) Azimuth IFFT (inverse fast Fourier transform) Detection* Look summation*
* these operations are not done when complex images are desired
We will review the most important of these steps in the next group of slides. Note that Doppler Centroid Estimation is sometimes done before the azimuth FFT, depending upon the algorithm used. Slide 36 In the next group of slides, we outline the main operations in range processing or compression. Because the phase structure of the range signal is not significantly affected by range migration, range compression can be achieved by a 1-dimensional matched filtering operation along the range direction. If necessary, a secondary range compression can also be applied to improve range focussing. The range compression operation is a conventional matched filtering operation, where the compression filter is applied in the frequency domain using FFTs. After the inverse FFT, only a portion of the output points is valid, because of the circular wraparound of the FFTs. It is also useful to think of the matched filtering as a correlation between the received signal and a replica of the ideal received signal (with the latter conjugated, because the signals are complex). The matched filter will produce a strong, sharp output only when the phase structure of the received signal is well matched with the replica. Slide 37 The first step is to find a replica of the transmitted range chirp. In some systems such as RADARSAT, a replica is embedded in the data stream of the received range lines. If not, the replica is generated knowing the duration, centre frequency and FM rate of the chirp.
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To verify the correct matched filter, it is useful to look at the magnitude and phase spectrum of the replica and the matched filter. In the left-hand plots, the magnitude spectrum is shown. In the top panel, the magnitude spectrum of the received data is shown. As this data contains only one point target with no noise, it can be used as the chirp replica. In the bottom panel, we show the magnitude of the spectrum of the matched filter, before weighting (in red) and after weighting (in green). Note that the shape of the spectrum of the matched filter before weighting is the same as the replica, and weighting tapers the matched filter energy at the edges of the spectrum. The right-hand plots show the phase of the spectrum of the replica (top) and of the matched filter (bottom). They are designed to be equal and opposite to each other, as the main purpose of the matched filter is to match the phase of the signal. Slide 38 This slide shows the result of compressing one range line containing a single point target. Before compression, the real part of the signal is shown, and after compression, the absolute value is shown. The signal is a linear FM chirp centred at zero frequency after complex demodulation. After compression, the width of the main lobe at the -3 dB level is shorter than the length of the uncompressed pulse by the ratio of the time-bandwidth product (TBP). After compression, the point target looks like a sinc function. Compared to the usual sinc function, this pulse has a slightly wider main lobe, and lower side lobes, because of the smoothing action of the window. Slide 39 A waterfall plot of the range compressed signal of a point target is shown in the left side of this slide (the absolute value of the complex number is shown). This time the whole azimuth exposure is shown, but for clarity, only every 15th line is shown. The peaks have a wobbly appearance, as they are migrating through range cells, and no interpolator is used in this plot. However, an interpolator would show that the peaks are smooth. On the right side, we show a mesh plot of the same data, but this time every 8th range line is shown. This subsampling in azimuth gives the peaks a rather spiky appearance, and the migration through range cells gives the side lobes a wavy appearance. However, the result is correct. Slide 40 Finally we show a contour plot of range compressed energy. In this plot, the range migration is clearly seen, which will be corrected in a subsequent operation. This time, every range line is contoured, but the migration through range cells still gives a wavy appearance to the plot. Slide 41 The range resolution is a direct function of the processed range bandwidth, which is lowered a little by the weighting function. The resolution can be expressed in a number of different units. The generic expression is given in seconds (or range cells), but it is also useful to express it in metres. This is done by multiplying by the effective propagation speed, which is one half the speed of light, or 150 m/sec.

This gives the resolution in metres along the beam direction, referred to as the slant range resolution sr
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To get the range resolution measured along the ground gr, the slant range resolution must be divided by the sine of the radar incident angle. For ERS, sr= 9 m and gr= 23 to 30 m, depending upon the incident angle. For RADARSAT, gr= 10 to 65 m, as it has a wide choice of range bandwidths and incident angles. Slide 42 To examine the results in more detail, we use an interpolator to expand the sampling frequency in the range direction. Taking one range line, expanding by a factor of 16, and plotting the pulse magnitude on a dB scale, this plot is obtained. Now we can measure detailed parameters of the compressed pulse, such as: -3 dB resolution the height of the maximum side lobe (MAXlobe) the 1-D integrated side lobe ratio (1-D ISLR) the phase at the peak of the pulse (Pkindex) the amplitude at the peak (Pkvalue) and the phase at the peak (Pkphase) All parameters here have their ideal values in this example. Slide 43 Next we plot the phase of the expanded pulse. Here we see that the phase is essentially zero everywhere. When the pulse amplitude is positive, as it is within the main lobe, the phase is almost exactly zero. When the amplitude changes sign, as it does for every second side lobe, the phase goes to either +180 or - 180. This excellent phase accuracy is due to the fact that the phase of the matched filter was carefully matched to the phase of the signal. Slide 44 A required step before Range Cell Migration Correction (RCMC) is to get the data into the azimuth frequency domain, by taking an azimuth FFT. This figure and the next one show the locus of target energy in the range-time, azimuth-frequency domain. Because of the linearity of the frequency-time relationship of linear FM signals, the shape of the locus of target energy is the same as in the azimuth time domain, with the exception that the azimuth frequency axis is rotated with respect to the azimuth time axis to an arbitrary non-zero center frequency. This centre frequency is directly proportional to the beam offset c and the azimuth FM rate Ka, and is given by:
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Slide 45 This contour plot of azimuth frequency-domain energy illustrates the disjoint nature of the energy in the frequency domain, when compared with the azimuth time domain in slide 40. However, it is not really disjoint --- the energy is simply circularly-rotated around the azimuth frequency axis. The rotation occurs because the actual azimuth frequency is many tens of KHz, but is aliased into the interval [ 0 : Fa ], where Fa is the azimuth sampling rate or PRF (pulse rate frequency). Slide 47 In this slide, the Doppler energy is originally between M Fa and (M+1) Fa, where M is an integer. In this case, the complete Doppler centroid is at (M+1/2) Fa, and the observed Doppler centroid is at frequency Fa/2. However, in general, the Doppler spectrum is not symmetrically placed between two integer multiples of Fa. Slide 48 In this slide, the spectrum is not between integer Fa boundaries, but can lie anywhere along the azimuth frequency axis. We want to estimate the complete, unaliased Doppler centroid, shown as Fcen. From the observed spectrum, we can estimate Ffrac in a number of ways, which are relatively straightforward and reliable. But estimating the Doppler ambiguity number M is more difficult. The earliest method of estimating Ffrac was to use a curve-fitting procedure on the blue curve. The earliest method of estimating M was to estimate the range shift in a multilook environment. Recently, Doppler estimation methods based on signal phase were developed. One of these is illustrated on the next 2 slides. Slide 49 In a method developed by Richard Bamler and Hartmut Runge of DLR (Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fr Luft) in 1991, use is made of the fact that the Doppler centroid is directly proportional to the radar frequency (i.e. inversely proportional to the radar wavelength) to obtain both the fractional part of the Doppler centroid and the Doppler ambiguity. As the radar pulse sweeps through its bandwidth (e.g. 17 MHz), the radar frequency changes by a small fraction (0.32 % in the ERS case). If we estimate the slope of Ffrac vs. range frequency, then the absolute Doppler centroid can be obtained. To do this, we perform the following steps on the range-compressed data in the range-time, azimuth-time domain: transform to the range frequency domain for each sample S(i) and the one following in the azimuth direction, compute conj(S(i)) * S(i+1) sum these terms over azimuth to obtain the average cross-correlation coefficient (ACCC) extract the phase angle of the sum (which is proportional of Ffrac)

plot phase angle in radians vs. range frequency in Hz estimate the average value G1 and the slope G2 of this plot find the centroid by projecting the slope to the radar frequency
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Steps 2 and 3 are illustrated in this slide. Each of the shorter lines radiating out from the centre represents the value of conj(S(i)) * S(i+1) at one azimuth time, all taken at the same range frequency. These complex vectors are then summed to obtain the longer vector with the circle on the end (shown scaled). The angle of this long vector is the ACCC angle at this range frequency. Slide 50 These ACCC angles are then found for each range frequency, and are plotted in this slide. A straight line is then fitted to the central 75% of the range spectrum, and the average value G1 and the slope G2 is found. We then compute the estimates of the fractional part, the ambiguity number and the absolute Doppler centroid using the formulae below. First, the fractional part is estimated by:
Then we project the slope G2 to the radar frequency to obtain the Doppler ambiguity number, M:
where Fintercept is the frequency where the plotted line intercepts the radar centre frequency. The projection of the slope is not very accurate, but M is obtained correctly if Fintercept is accurate to within +/- Fa / 2. The estimated total Doppler centroid is then:
Slide 51 The total range cell migration depends mainly upon the synthetic aperture length, the range resolution, and upon the squint of the beam forward or aft of the zero Doppler. The synthetic aperture length and range resolution are fixed for a given radar system configuration (except for the linear increase of aperture with slant range), while the squint of the beam can vary with each data take. The formula in the slide gives the range migration in range cells for the case where the squint angle is large enough that the zero Doppler point is not illuminated by the beam (if it is illuminated, the range migration is generally very small). Vr = effective radar velocity (m/s) Fr = range sampling rate (Hz) c = speed of light (m/s)
R0= slant range (m)

If the RCM is greater than one range cell, then RCM correction (RCMC) should be performed.
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In the graph, we draw the total RCM for our simulation parameters. These parameters use an exposure time somewhat less than the ERS satellite. In this case, c of 6.3 s corresponds to a squint angle of 3o. If ERS had the same squint angle, the RCM would be 34 range cells. Slide 52 There are two steps in computing the required amount of RCMC for each azimuth frequency cell. First, we must compute the absolute or unaliased frequency corresponding to each azimuth frequency cell. This is a linear relationship with a discontinuity of Fa. The discontinuity occurs at the azimuth frequency cell corresponding to frequency Ffrac + Fa / 2. The absolute frequency is then found by adding (M-1) Fa, M Fa or (M+1) Fa to the frequency of each cell, depending upon whether the DOPCEN is left or right of the discontinuity point. Having obtained these frequencies, the range equation must be expressed as a function of azimuth frequency instead of azimuth time. This is done using the linear relationship
Then we obtain the RCM in cells vs. azimuth frequency. Strictly speaking, the RCM needed is a quadratic function of azimuth frequency. However, in C-band satellite SARs, the quadratic component is very small, so that the curve of RCM vs. frequency is almost linear. For this reason, we can annotate the right-hand axis in the figure with RCM, which closely portrays the correct RCM needed. Slide 53 As the RCMC needed is usually some fraction of a range cell, we need an interpolator to move the data an arbitrary fraction of a cell. Usually this fraction is quantized to 1/16 of a cell, so 15 different interpolators are needed to move the data by i /16 of a cell, where i = 1 : 15. A simple interpolator is obtained from a truncated sinc function, as shown in blue. To avoid excessive frequency leakage in the interpolator, the coefficients are weighted by a Kaiser window with = 3. After multiplying the coefficients by the window, the coefficients shown in red are obtained. Slide 54 To get the 15 sets of coefficients, the red curve must be subsampled by 16, with the appropriate shift. This slide shows 8 of the coefficient sets. Set 1 shifts by 1/16 of a cell, and set 8 shifts by 1/2 of a cell. Sets 9 to 15 are the mirror image of sets 7 to 1, while set 16 is the ``no-shift'' set = [ 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0]. Slide 55 The RCMC operation is illustrated in this slide. The amount of shift needed can be separated into an integer and a fractional number of range cells, as shown in panel (a). The integer cell shifts are performed simply by a shift of samples, while the fractional sample shift is performed by the interpolator. Panel (b) shows the distribution of energy in every 16th range line prior to RCMC.
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Panel (c) shows the distribution of energy after the integer shifts are performed. This shift corrects most of the RCM, but a significant amount of energy jitter remains. Panel (d) shows the distribution of energy after the fractional shifts are performed with the interpolator. We see that the energy is now well-aligned in azimuth, which is illustrated further in the next 3 slides. Slide 56 This slide shows a mesh plot of signal energy, where every 12th line is shown. Slide 57 To be sure that the energy does not appear elsewhere in the array, this slide gives the energy summed in the azimuth direction, including the energy from every range line. Slide 58 This figure shows a contour plot of energy after RCMC. Compare this plot with slide 44, which shows the contour plot of signal energy before RCMC. The alignment of energy along the azimuth direction is now complete, ready for azimuth compression. Slide 60 The azimuth matched filter is generated and applied much the same as the range matched filter. If multi-looking is done, only a fraction of the azimuth frequency data is used for each application of the matched filter. Slide 61 To check the correct generation of the azimuth matched filter, the properties of the received data should be examined. In this slide, we look at the magnitude (top) and phase (bottom) spectrum of the data in one range cell. As we have only a single point target in this simulation, we examine the range cell containing the majority of the target energy. In the top plot, we note that the data has an appropriate oversampling ratio, i.e. the signal bandwidth is about 85% of the sampling frequency. We also note that the magnitude spectrum has a peak at about azimuth frequency cell number 33, which agrees with the DOPCEN frequency found by the estimators:
Note that in real data, the magnitude spectrum will be a noisy version of the top plot, but the phase spectrum will be random. Slide 62 In this slide, we take a 30 x 30 point array centred on the largest value, and plot its magnitude with a mesh plot. This gives an overview of the peak and its surrounding side lobes.
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Slide 65 We see that the azimuth resolution is about 1.1 cells, a direct function of the weighting function and the oversampling ratio used. It is also due to the accurate definition of the azimuth matched filter, for if the azimuth FM rate were wrong, a coarser resolution would be obtained. The first side lobe is down 18 dB, again a direct consequence of the weighting function used. The 1-dimensional integrated side lobe ratio (ISLR) is -16 dB, which is normal for the weighting function used. The phase function is not quite perfect, with the answer being about 2 degrees off. This small error is a consequence of range migration, and the imperfect operation of the interpolator. Note that the phase function has a distinct slope, because the Doppler centre frequency is not zero.

SAR Digital Signal Processing

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SAR Systems and Digital Signal Processing

CanadaCanada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada Canada

Natural Resources Ressources naturelles

What is Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)?

Concept of Synthetic Aperture

First time SAR senses object

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

SAR Real Aperture

Point Target Echo in a Synthetic Aperture Radar System

POINT TARGET PHASE HISTORY

CHIRP LENGTH SYNTHETIC APERTURE LENGTH AZIMUTH

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Airborne SAR Flight Geometry

SAR Squint Angle

SQUINT ANGLE SQUINT DIRECTION ZERO DOPPLER RADAR SWATH

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Components of a SAR System

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

SAR Signal Generation

Transmitted Pulse Modulator

Carrier from coho:

Freq = 5.3 GHz

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Demodulated Signal Demodulator

Carrier from coho: Freq = 5.3 GHz

How Demodulation Turns Time Delay Into Azimuth Phase

Stored Rx Signal Stored Rx Signal

StoredDemodulated Demodulated signal Stored Signal

< Azimuth Time Azimuth Time

Range Time > Range Time

Range Time > Range Time

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Point Target Compression or Focussing

AZIMUTH RESOLUTION AZIMUTH COMPRESSION

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Range Compression of Received Signal

Range timetime Range >

Range time Range time >

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Point Target in Computer Memory

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Signal Analysis in the Azimuth Direction

Over this time, 2R 2R hashas decreased by by Over this time, decreased

Azimuth sample number

Phase Change Induced by Sensor Motion

Range vs Azimuth Time:

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Doppler Frequency from Phase Change

This is a linear FM signal:

Total DopplerTotal Bandwidth Doppler Bandwidth of target DBW of target (DBW)

Slope Ka Ka Hz/s Slope= = Hz/s

AzimuthTime Time Azimuth

Total exposure time target Total exposure time ofof target

Total Doppler Bandwidth Generated

Length of beam footprint:

SAR Signal Processing

SAR Processing Algorithms

Structure of Transmitted SAR Signal

Structure of Received SAR Signal

The Range Equation

Platform motion Radar position